Creamy Bacon and Mushroom Pasta
Crispy bacon, juicy mushrooms, creamy tomato sauce. Gang's all here! Best ever. Promise.
Ingredients
- 6 slices bacon cut into ½ inch bits (lardons if you're fancy)
- 8 ounces sliced mushrooms
- ½ onion diced
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper optional
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 28 ounces canned crushed tomatoes
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese plus more for serving
- 12 ounces spaghetti noodles cooked to al dente with 1 cup pasta water reserved
Instructions
- When I make this, I start the water for the pasta first, then boil in heavily salted water it as I'm making the sauce. When the pasta is ready to drain, reserve 1 cup (give or take) of the cooking liquid right before dumping the pasta.
- For the sauce, add the bacon to a large cold skillet and turn the heat to medium. Render the fat in the bacon and let it brown slightly - it won't be totally crispy at this point.
- When the bacon is about halfway to crispy, add the mushrooms and cook with the bacon for 5-7 minutes or until the mushrooms have released their liquid and browned at the edges.
- Add the onion and crushed red pepper flakes (if using) and stir into the skillet for 3 minutes to soften slightly.
- Add the garlic and salt and stir for one minute (the garlic should just barely cook), then add the crushed tomatoes.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and let the tomato sauce simmer for 10-15 minutes while you finish the pasta. Taste the sauce and add more salt if you'd like; it should be very flavorful.
- Combine the pasta with the sauce and add the cream and parmesan cheese to the skillet. Toss everything together with ½ cup of the reserved cooking liquid and taste again for seasoning; keep adding pinches of salt until it's just right.
- Serve. Devour. Enjoy!
Notes
You can use pancetta or another pork product if you'd like! Go for 4-6 ounces or so, whatever the spirit guides you to do.
I like sliced baby bella (cremini) mushrooms in this recipe, but any mushroom you like is delicious! Feel free to double the amount of 'shrooms if you love them.
Take your time with this recipe! Your sauce might take a little less or a little more time to make depending on the heat of your stove. Add the ingredients and let them cook while you stir, don't worry about the time too much.
This sauce is gluten free. Serve it with spaghetti squash or GF pasta for a gluten free dinner!
Leftovers keep in the fridge for at least 3 days, maybe longer if you can stand to not eat them for that long.
Tried this recipe?Let me know how it was!